The Way Things Look To Me

Roopa Farooki

Sep 2009 · Pan Macmillan

About this ebook

At 23, Asif is less than he wanted to be. His mother's sudden death forced him back home to look after his youngest sister, Yasmin, and he leads a frustrating life, ruled by her exacting need for routine. Everyone tells Asif that he's a good boy, but he isn't so sure.

Lila has escaped from home, abandoning Asif to be the sole carer of their difficult sister. Damaged by a childhood of uneven treatment, as Yasmin's needs always came first, she leads a wayward existence, drifting between jobs and men, obsessed with her looks and certain that her value is only skin deep.

And then there is Yasmin, who has no idea of the resentment she has caused. Who sees music in colour and remembers so much that sometimes her head hurts. Who doesn't feel happy, but who knows that she is special. Who has a devastating plan.

THE WAY THINGS LOOK TO ME is an affecting, comically tender portrayal of a family in crisis, caught between duty and love in a tangled relationship both bitter and bittersweet.

About the author

Roopa Farooki was born in Lahore in Pakistan and brought up in London. She graduated from New Colleage, Oxford in 1995 and worked in advertising before turning to write fiction. Roopa now divides her time between south-west France and Kent with her husband and sons. Bitter Sweets, her first novel, was shortlisted for the Orange New Writers Award 2007, and her second novel Corner Shop was published in 2008.